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When you were young, did you ever play with a baby doll? Cuddle a beloved pet a little too hard? Find a bug, or a turtle, or a baby bird, and try to keep it happy and alive inside a magical shoebox world you were CERTAIN was just like what it needed in the wild?

Well, you’re in good company. Wild animals like that feeling of companionship, too, which is why they regularly “adopt” animals of another species. Sometimes the relationship is parental, sometimes it’s more like owning a pet, but it’s always intriguing to see our wild counterparts ignore instinct and act, well, human:

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Baboons & Monkeys
Primates are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, so it’s not exactly surprising that they share our basic human need for affection.

In zoos, baboons regularly “adopt” creatures that they come into contact with, like this baboon in a private Lithuanian zoo, who formed a strange, parental bond with a chicken:

For a long time, animal behaviorists assumed this behavior was a product of captivity, occurring because the baboons were lonely or inadequately stimulated. But more recently, the same behavior has been observed in wilder settings. In India, a cat owner came home to find that her kitten had been “adopted” by a local monkey:

While the love may not always be as warmly received as it is given (baboons have also been known to steal feral puppies which they then turn into pets), it’s clear primates have a lot of love to give.

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Owen (the Hippo) & Mzee (the Tortoise)

We’ve all heard of May-December relationships, but few are as extreme as the unlikely friendship that developed between Owen, a baby hippo, and Mzee, a 130-year-old tortoise, in the wake of a 2004 tsunami:

The tortoise helped encourage the young hippo to eat, and the pair soon became inseparable. They’re still enchanting visitors to their home in Haller Park Sanctuary today.

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Legadema the Leopard and a Baby Baboon

In the wild, predators hunt, and prey is hunted. But what is usually a very clear relationship between opposing types was complicated when one leopard was surprised by a baby baboon, and decided not to eat it, but instead to care for it (a warning to viewers: this video starts with a brief image of Legadema hunting an adult baboon):

Some people nail up a horseshoe, pick up pennies, or carry around a rabbit’s foot; superstitions about how to secure your share of good luck may vary from person to person, but the impulse to try (however ridiculously) is almost universal.

Perhaps surprisingly, charms like these are one of the things that drive poaching in Africa. While elephant poaching for ivory is highly visible, on a smaller scale, many other animals are also being hunted illegally, to the detriment of the fragile ecosystems in the region. We may rub on a rabbit’s foot, but in Tanzania, these items are sought after as charms:

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Duiker Horns

Less than two feet tall with short legs (for an antelope), the bush duiker makes for easy prey, both for predators and for humans, who often hunt it both for its meat and in retaliation (duiker may not threaten your life, but they have been known to decimate a vegetable garden).

But perhaps the greatest incentive to hunt duiker is its small, straight horns, traditionally used as a charm against evil spirits.

Maybe the spirits of hunted duiker?

“Common duiker kenya” by Original uploader was Chuckupd at en.wikipedia – Transferred from en.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:Richard001 using CommonsHelper.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Common_duiker_kenya.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Common_duiker_kenya.jpg

Giraffe Tails

You’ve probably heard of poachers killing an elephant just for its tusks. Question: does that seem more or less wasteful than killing an entire giraffe for its tail?

Giraffe tails are prized as flyswatters (can’t improve on nature’s design, huh?), for the stiff hair on the tufted portion of the tail (which can be used for sewing or stringing beads), and as good-luck bracelets.

…none of which is particularly lucky for the giraffe.

Photo: Thomson Safaris guest June Cunningham

Kudu Horns

Anyone lucky enough to spot a greater kudu on safari knows just how majestic this antelope, with its stunning, spiraled horns, can be. It would come as no surprise if kudu horns were coveted simply for their aesthetic appeal, but collectors have an even stronger incentive to snag one: they’re thought to house powerful spirits, something it’s always good to have in your pocket…or, given the lengths these twisting horns often reach, on your wall.

Kudu horns are also valued as a musical instrument (their sound is something like a French horn), and are often used in religious ceremonies, particularly in Judaism, where traditional shofar horns are often made from kudu horns.

You’d think anyone hunting a leopard would be after its stunning, soft coat, but many poachers bring down these big cats for their whiskers alone. Stiff and white, the leopard’s whiskers are often used in potions and charms.

Of course the leopard uses its extremely sensitive whiskers to help it navigate the dense underbrush as it sneaks up on its prey, and can remain undetected even just feet away from a target…which is a little magical, too.

Photo: Thomson Safaris guests Karen & Brian Berkley

Oryx Horns

Another antelope whose horns are regularly turned into charms, the oryx has a long, international history of being hunted for its headpiece(s).

In medieval England, oryx horns were often sold as unicorn horns, which were believed to cure disease, ward off evil, purify water, and protect against poison.

You have to hand it to the superstitious when it comes to the aardvark: they’re seriously nose-to-tail about the good-luck charms.

Aardvark teeth are believed to prevent illness and generally ward off bad luck, the claws are thought to promote good harvests, the hairs are used in traditional potions, and even the meat is highly valued.

Still, we prefer spotting these odd-looking anteaters in one piece.

“Porc formiguer” by MontageMan is the author of the original image, I did the crop – Cropped from File:Porcs formiguers (Orycteropus afer).jpg. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Porc_formiguer.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Porc_formiguer.JPG

Sometimes people think we have a monopoly on strange behavior, bizarre habits, and quirky character traits, but that’s not true; there’s plenty of wildlife as weird as we are! For example, there’s…

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Nature’s Garbage Disposal: The African Civet

You know that one friend who cleans every last speck off his plate…then moves on to everyone else’s? That’s the civet, an animal that looks like a cross between a cat and a weasel, and eats like he’s crossing a food court, and stopping at every station. Civets eat snails, crabs, turtles and frogs; fish, chickens, birds and small reptiles; maggots, dung beetles, cockroaches, termites, and carrion. Then, to make sure they stay balanced, they might top all that off with some leaves, shoots, sweet potatoes, peanuts, corn, and a nice fruit-plate.

Medieval beliefs about animals are fascinating, in no small part because most of the people writing about the strange and fantastic creatures of the world had never seen them. Or anything like them. Also they believed in magic.

That probably explains the brisk trade in oryx horns in medieval England, where they were sold as unicorn horns. The unicorn was viewed as a symbol of purity and grace, and its characteristic spiral horn was thought to have magical properties, cure disease, and detect poisons.

Fortunately for the salesmen, on an oryx you have double the horns to sell.

Vervets have developed a seriously entrenched social structure based on who your parents (more specifically your mother) was. They’re like the royal family, except slightly less tolerant of incursions by “commoners.”

In vervet society, the rank of a female is determined entirely by the rank her mother holds. This hierarchy is so strictly adhered to that the baby of a high-ranking female gets preference over adults of an inferior status.

Male monkeys leave the clan to make their own way, and their status is based on strength, age, how long they’ve lived with the group, and alliances they’ve formed.

The ladies, though, are born princesses…or peasants.

Photo by Thomson Safaris staffer, Bryan Rotundo

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Nature’s Fashion Model: The Bushbuck

With their willowy legs, natural grace, and of course those massive doe-eyes, it’s only natural that antelope are runway-ready.

But the bushbuck takes it a step (or catwalk) further.

Rather than fighting for mates, male bushbuck prance for them, displaying their unique markings with a special arch-backed, high-stepping walk.

Bushbuck are also capable of living (briefly) off of dew. Now if only they could brew it into coffee and enjoy it with a cigarette, they’d really give the human models a catwalk for their money.

Genets are omnivores, eating everything from small mammals to eggs to insects to fruit, but with food they hunt, they are known to be “wasteful” killers; often they’ll eat only the head or breast of an animal.

Of course in the bush, leftovers are readily taken care of. And if you live near a genet, there will be plenty of them to go around…

Photo: Thomson Safaris guest, Jon Goulden

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Nature’s Expiration Date: The Waterbuck

Sometimes, you’re not sure whether or not you should eat the casserole hidden at the back of your fridge.

And sometimes you can just TELL it has gone off.

Putrefaction is one of the waterbuck’s best defenses from predators; as an animal grows older, secretions from its sweat glands build up, giving the meat a distinct “past its prime” smell that turns predators away.

Of course it probably turns just about everyone else away, too, but that’s a small price to pay for staying off the menu.

Thomson Safaris

Founded in 1981 and based in Watertown Massachusetts, Thomson Safaris has been handcrafting trips-of-a-lifetime for over 35 years. Tanzania is our only destination, and has truly become our second home. We’re excited to be able to share it with you through stories and features on our blog.